Found on myhomelifemag.com

There’s one thing you have GOT to stop doing when you are serious about wanting to accept your body: you have GOT to stop believing in and going on diets. 

There’s no way around it. It’s non-negotiable.

If you continue to believe that your next diet is going to fix you, make you better, more worthy and beautiful, you’ll never ever come to a place of peace and understanding with your body. If you continue to read diet books, buy into the lies and scams that the beauty industry portrays, you’ll forever stand in your own way of finding this place of ease and calm you desire.

There are many women out there who say that they want to stop being insane around food and find their natural way of being in their body, but when it comes down to it, they are lying to themselves.

They truthfully still believe that there’ll be a magic pill some day (aka. one of the thousand new diets that spring up like mushrooms every single year) that’ll save them from their destiny of having to endure a life with a body they loathe.

They go right back to old behaviors when things get a little rough and let’s face it, they will. Changing your body image, re-imagining the way you see your self-worth is not easy.

You’ll hit rough stops. You’ll likely slip, binge, freak out and get scared. But that’s your opportunity of choosing a different direction, a new destiny for yourself. That’s your chance of standing up for yourself.

If you don’t break that cycle of thinking that everything will be fine once you’re strong enough to eat a low-fat diet or go on a no-carb weight loss plan, then you’ll never let go. You’ll never take the steps that are necessary to break the chain and claim the freedom that’s yours to take.

You’ll never use the wisdom that your body naturally has and instead always seek approval and fixing from outside sources.

So, when you “eat badly” (hate that term, but let’s use it for now), what do you do? You DON’T go on a diet. You continue doing what you truly want: create liberty in food and life. When you feel emotionally exhausted or out of control, what do you do? You DON’T purchase a weight loss DVD.

You don’t buy diet foods, you don’t begin to weigh your food again, you don’t start counting calories, you don’t read the “3 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Now” posts online and you don’t step on that darn scale.

Instead, you go inward. You listen. You sit with your emotions as much as you can and then you reach out, get help, find support, write, dance, cry, shake, moan, laugh, scream, hug or whatever else it is that really soothes your soul and helps to heal the issue that’s waiting and wanting to be resolved.

If all of this sounds ludicrous to you, then ask yourself if you’re really, really serious about wanting to be free from body-obsessed thoughts and a diet-focused lifestyle. There’s no shame in not being ready or not wanting to make your body shape a non-issue, none at all. However, it’s important that you’re honest with yourself.

If you’re not ready, be OK with that.

If you’re not there yet, try to come to terms with living in that limbo.

If you can’t get behind it, then just don’t.

But if you’re sick and tired of thinking about food all day long, if your relationships suffer because of your thoughts and beliefs around food, if your entire life is darkened by the way you see your body, then it’s time to make a decision and stick to it: body-acceptance OR dieting. What will it be?

It’s your choice. It’s your life. Just don’t lie to yourself. {Click to Tweet}